Jessica Millis: 8 Niches for Writers to Find Freelance Jobs

8 Niches for Writers to Find Freelance Jobs

There are countless opportunities waiting for your service as a writer in the world of freelancing. Although competition is thick you will be able to rise above with persistence and commitment to your niche. Writing within your specialty is critical because of two things: first, it decreases the amount of competition you will find and secondly, it will increase your commitment to servicing your client within that niche. You would not choose that niche if you didn’t love the work you were doing, right?

The information below will help you determine how to market your job descriptions so you get the best results from your freelancer.

Niche 1 – Article Writing

Article writing is one of the more high profile forms of freelance writing. Articles are more professional and demand more from the writer such as a lack of opinion on the subject at hand; furthermore, they require a more sophisticated writing style, impeccable grammar with included research and/or interviews. The pay rate per 100 words usually range from $0.10 ~ to $1 and up. You can find opportunities here or on the sites like this one ( more related to essay writing ).

Niche 2 – Blog Writing

Blog writing is one of the most popular forms of sought-for writing. Clients like to have their own blogs managed by a freelancer who is passionate or has some level of expertise in the category that their blog is focused in. Blogs are allowed to include opinion, fundamentally don’t include interviews or research, are typically shorter in length; grammar and good spelling are discretionary based on the client with no editorial involvement. The pay rates are usually very low, in the range of $5-20 per post.

Client Confusion – Blog writing vs. Article Writing

There is and continues to be confusion between these two separate forms of writing by the client for years. This has mostly been caused due to the evolution of blogs, which have served individuals as platforms to conduct interviews and increase in word count (1,000 word post average up to 2,000 words) to offer their readership more value. To protect yourself and garner the appropriate pay you deserve for your services, during the interview process you should define exactly what the client is looking for and educate them if they are looking for a 1,000 word post for $20. You can find more on the differences between article and blog writing here.

Niche 3 – E-book Ghostwriter

There are a lot of jobs who are seeking for freelancers who are willing to ghost-write for their e-books. The E-book subject can range from fiction romance novels to non-fiction history or guitar lessons. Some of these jobs are about designing E-book covers or formatting the e-books for a certain platform. Most of these jobs that are writing jobs require larger word counts, in the 10,000 words and up range. The pay rate usually ranges anywhere from $100 ~ $2,000 based on the clients situation and needs.

If you create a decent enough portfolio you can search for eBook writing agency such as this one here to land a permanent position.

Niche 4 – Travel Writer

There is a niche for travel writers on freelancing platforms that seek writers who either currently live in a high profile destination or have traveled extensively to a particular area or region. Some of the writing is landmark (natural or man-made) based; however, some require you to write in a “sales pitch” tone. All of them definitely want you to be passionate about the lifestyle of travel and be able to express that passion in your writing.

If you’re attempting to decide if this niche is for you then feel free to get more detailed information here.

Niche 5 – Product Reviews

There is also a niche out there specifically for writers who love and have experience in the product review market. It’s difficult to find clients in this space who are willing to give you access to the product that they want reviewed so you can use the product or software and give an honest review. If you are fine with giving a review on products that you don’t physically get to use and test then you’ll find work here for clients who just want to get their product credibility via faux reviews. It will be difficult to find great clients who would send you the product to get an honest review.

Niche 6 – Editing

As a freelance editor, you will have to have previous editorial experience but when you land a client you can expect them to filter a lot of their freelance writers work to you to save them the time of reading over the work. You may also find work from writers who would like to hire an editor to edit their e-book manuscript for them. These jobs are usually long-term positions and have a high ceiling for revenue. With the increased emphasis on having great content to increase the conversion of businesses inbound marketing editors’ demand is increasing.

Niche 7 – Journalist

You can find a lot of work online for small to medium sized news websites who need consistent work from freelance journalists in their appointed category. Most of these jobs require people with journalistic backgrounds and the ability to do the due diligence (research) for the client, the writing in the news style and reporting tone. There are many opportunities available to write press releases for clients as well.

Niche 8 – Translator

As a translator you have the potential to make a very decent side income. The competition in this niche is relatively low compared to the 7 niches listed above. That is mostly because of the lack of people bi-lingual in the sought after languages. These jobs are often long term and some of the languages that are sought after are Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Arabic, French, Russian to English translators. There are also jobs out there for speakers of languages that aren’t English to translate as well.

For the final three niches you can find more pay rate information here.

The most difficulty you’ll face when either a) embarking for the first time on your freelancing journey or b) changing your approach to freelancing will be getting your clients to correctly identify and define what they are asking for.

One must imagine if they are seeking a writer than they must not understand the field of writing all that well. You will only be helping yourself if you help the client better understand the writing industry. You will garner a higher level of communication and understanding with your client and you will help yourself rise above the crop (so long as you portray yourself as a professional and not another pompous writer).

Good Luck!

Author bio: Jessica Millis, a freelance writer, editor and copywriter. Also Jessica works as a professor assistant at JMU (writing classes). See more here.

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